


Good Hair Day

by AllThoseOtherWorlds



Series: Fall Into Life [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: And Sam with a ponytail, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Sam's Hair, braiding sam's hair, is that a thing?, scalp massages
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-19
Updated: 2014-05-19
Packaged: 2018-01-25 18:31:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1658240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllThoseOtherWorlds/pseuds/AllThoseOtherWorlds
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam's reading in the Bunker library when Castiel comes and gives him a scalp massage - and some advice.</p>
<p>Can be read as a standalone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Good Hair Day

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural. I do not make money from this.**
> 
> **Comments and constructive criticisms are always welcome! Even if you didn't finish reading the piece, I'd like to know what you did and/or didn't like. If anything I said is offensive or wrong, let me know and I'll change it.**
> 
> **Takes place in that happy little S9 AU we all have where there's no Gadreel and no fallen angel stuff, and they're just living in the Bunker and doing normal hunts and all that. In this AU, Sam completed the trials but he got better and didn't die from them, and Castiel sealed the angels into Heaven but had to give up his own Grace to do it. He's staying at the Bunker with Sam and Dean, obviously.**

                It was a quiet afternoon in the bunker; they were between cases and had decided to take a few days off to sort through the seemingly endless resources the bunker had to offer. Sam was in the library, reading through a book on various monsters and their evolutionary patterns across time and location. He suspected it had been written by one of the Men of Letters and was based on their research.

                The book really was fascinating, but it was a sunny day and Sam had made the mistake of sitting near the window. He’d been up late the night before – there was always _just one more page_ – and it wasn’t long before he found himself starting to drift off.

                Against his better judgement, he placed the book carefully on the table in front of him and took a moment to lie back against the chair, closing his eyes and enjoying the warm sunlight on his skin. _Just a few minutes_ , he told himself, knowing full well he’d probably completely drift off.

                He was woken up by the feeling of soft hands gently running through his hair and over his scalp. He blinked his eyes open and saw Castiel’s intense blue eyes staring back at him warmly.

                “Hello, Sam.”

                “Cas,” Sam said, “How are you and Dean doing with the artifacts?”

                Cas smiled, fingers gliding in small circles along Sam’s hairline. “Your brother may have gotten distracted by some of the objects,” he replied seriously. “He found a collection of ancient weapons and armour.

                Sam grinned. “’Course he did.” He leaned slightly into Cas’ hands, enjoying the soft pressure. “Feels good,” he said.

                Cas hummed his pleasure and continued, now running his hand through Sam’s hair and brushing it with his long fingers. “You have nice hair,” he commented. “It is very long.”

                Sam could feel Cas admiring the strands of hair, rubbing them slightly between his fingers and watching them glint in the sunlight.

                “Thanks, Cas,” he said. “Dean thinks it’s too long.”

                “I like it,” Cas told him.

                They continued in silence for several minutes, Sam relaxing into the warmth and the caring touches, and Cas apparently revelling in being able to do something that made Sam feel nice. Sam only spoke again when he felt Cas start to gently twist strands of his hair together in a way that seemed like more than simple brushing.

                “Cas,” he asked carefully, “Are you _braiding my hair?_ ”

                “Yes,” Cas calmly replied, as though braiding Sam’s hair was an everyday thing. “Does it bother you?”

                “Uh…” Sam managed. “I don’t know? Dean would never let me live it down. He teases me enough about my hair already.” He’d opened his eyes when he noticed the braiding, but he felt them slip closed again as the sensation continued. “It feels nice though.”

                “Why would your brother mock you for this?” Cas asked, apparently unperturbed by the entire situation – as evidenced by the calm continuity of his motions.

                “He’d say it was girly, probably,” Sam said, thinking of all the times Dean had made jokes about how apparently feminine his hair was.

                “Is that a bad thing?” Cas asked him. “I wasn’t aware that hair patterns were gendered.”

                Sam considered the question. “It’s based more in society,” he decided. “Dean’s pretty into the whole gender-stereotypes thing. He’s got to protect his reputation as ‘manly’ or something.”

                “And you?” Cas asked, twisting some hair on the other side of Sam’s head into a second braid.

                “I don’t know,” Sam said lazily, still enjoying the warmth and touch. “I mean, they had some informational stuff at Stanford and gender’s a lot more complicated than Dean acts like it is. I don’t think having longer hair makes me more feminine than Dean, but I also don’t see it as a big deal if it does.”

                Cas nodded, gently brushing a strand of hair away from Sam’s forehead and into the braid. Sam smiled softly at the gentle touch. It was a long moment before Cas responded.

                “I understand human gender concepts on an intellectual level,” he said. “Jimmy identified as male, and this vessel is commonly viewed as such, but I do not really have a personal connection to it.”

                “mmm,” Sam said, squinting his eyes open again as something occurred to him. “Does it bother you that Dean and I generally refer to you as if you were male?” He’d hate to think they’d been bothering Cas and that the ex-angel, for whatever reason, hadn’t told them.

                “No, it’s fine,” Cas assured him. “While less than accurate or ideal, it doesn’t particularly bother me.”

                “That’s good,” Sam said.

                They sat in silence for a while longer, until Cas finished the second braid in Sam’s hair and pulled away slightly to smile down at Sam.

                “I like it,” he said. “It looks good on you.”

                Sam grinned a little back at him, but then sighed. “I should probably take them out before Dean sees,” he said.

                Cas frowned. “Does it really matter what your brother thinks of your hair?’

                Sam laughed. “I just want him to approve of me, I guess. Not that I can earn his approval with a hairstyle, I suppose.”

                “Sam,” Castiel said seriously, fixing his intense soul-staring gaze at Sam. “You are more than worthy of approval. You are amazing – your soul is amazing – because of everything you’ve gone through and everything you are, and I am sure your brother sees that.”

                Sam wasn’t, but it was nice that Castiel thought so. “Thanks, Cas,” he said softly. “That means a lot.”

                He sighed again, then stretched regretfully. “I suppose I should go do something productive now, finish sorting through those books or something.”

                “Okay,” Cas said. “Dean is probably still trying out the armour and weapons.”

                “I guess you should go nudge him back on track, then,” Sam laughed, climbing out of the chair and stretching again before turning towards one of the shelves. Cas also turned to go, but paused before he did to look back at Sam.

                “You still have the braids in,” Cas informed him.

                Sam smiled. “Yeah, I guess I do.”

                The next day Sam wore his hair in a ponytail. When he saw it, Dean opened his mouth to speak, but Cas cut him off with a stern glare before he could say anything and his mouth snapped shut.

                Sam flashed Cas a grin behind his brother’s back and mouthed a silent _“Thank you.”_

                Cas nodded and softened his features into something warm before walking over and murmuring into Sam’s ear.

                “You’re welcome, Sam. It looks good on you.”

                “Are you two done flirting?” Dean asked. “Because I think I’ve found us a hunt.”

                “Yeah, yeah, we’re coming,” Sam said, eyes smiling. “What’s the case?”


End file.
